Honoring Congressman Grijalva’s Legacy

Today, we at Emerge Center Against Domestic Abuse join our community in mourning the loss of Congressman Raúl Grijalva.

There is much to express gratitude for in Congressman Grijalva’s long career in public service. His legacy includes an unwavering commitment to uplifting the voices of marginalized people, safeguarding natural resources, and investing in vulnerable communities. At Emerge, we would like to honor his work protecting and expanding resources for people experiencing domestic abuse, both locally and at the national level. He wrote that abusive relationships are a public health issue and a human rights issue, and he worked to improve protections for populations facing additional risks and barriers to safety, including Tribal members and immigrants.

Congressman Grijalva was a longtime supporter of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), a measure passed by Congress to improve the criminal justice response to gender-based violence and support services for survivors. Not only did he champion this landmark legislation calling for its reauthorization throughout his tenure in Congress, but also he argued for preserving legal protections under VAWA for all women experiencing domestic abuse, regardless of their immigrant status, and for extending protections to Tribal nations.

Four years ago, the United State House of representatives passed the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization with Representative Grijalva’s urgent and unwavering support. He said at the time, “With an astonishing number of Native women facing gender-based violence, this legislation makes drastic improvements. It remedies the issues tribal governments have faced in holding non-Native perpetrators of abuse accountable and improves the response rate to cases concerning murdered and missing Indigenous women. The law should protect all women, regardless of where they live…”

Through his leadership as Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, the House held its first-ever hearing on the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW). Congressman Grijalva also co-led the resolution to designate May 5 as National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, amplifying the efforts of grassroots organizations led by Indigenous women to bring awareness to this issue.

We send our condolences and peaceful energy to Mona, Raquel, Marisa, Supervisor Grijalva and to all his loved ones. We are forever grateful for the tireless advocacy of Congressman Grijalva, and we know that this work is not done. We invite our community to honor his legacy by stepping up, as he did, to protect our most vulnerable neighbors. He believed that all survivors of domestic violence and their children deserve to be safe and lead healthy lives, and we thank him for all he did for this community in support of that belief. In gratitude for the progress he made possible, we call on our community to lift up courageous leaders who are willing to prioritize protecting survivors of domestic violence and sexual violence—that is his legacy.